we are inside the gaza strip with the israeli army. they are taking us to see what they found at the al—shifa hospital. israel claims hamas has been hiding its command centre under the hospital, but they're coming under pressure to show that is true. we'll be showing what they found inside the hospital and looking at what questions remain. also tonight... is another christmas of train strikes looming as more walk—outs are announced in december? two thirds of england's maternity units don't consistently meet safety standards, says the health care regulator. we have a special report. you are taking me somewhere? yes, es... to the moon — why the hollywood actor tom hanks wants to get us closer to space. tonight on bbc london, one in five queen tonight on bbc london, one in five queer, gay or transgender people in the capital say they have suffered abuse on public transport. we will be speaking to some of those

affected. good evening. the head of gaza's largest hospital, al—shifa, says israeli soldiers are still inside the complex and the hospital has run out of water and oxygen for more than 600 patients being treated there. israel has allowed the bbc to go inside part of the hospital as it comes under growing pressure to prove that hamas has hidden a military command centre in tunnels beneath the buildings. al—shifa hospital has been at the centre of israeli operations for several days now, with tanks stationed outside. israel has repeatedly claimed that the site was a key command centre for hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the uk. but hamas has described the raid on the hospital as a war crime. this is what the hospital complex looks like. intensive care, a&e and the maternity —

you can see from this image just how big the site is. our middle east correspondent lucy williamson and cameraman dave bull were taken to the hospital last night by the israeli defence forces, who wanted to show weapons and other materials found there. they're now back injerusalem and lucyjoins us from there. reports from inside the hospital there has been fresh gunfire they are and is really defence officers have been sent into new areas of the hospital. as you say, we were taken in last night by the israeli army and had about 30 minutes on the ground under tight military supervision. we couldn't talk or meet with any palestinian doctors or patience, and i have to say that the pictures, not the words, and our report had to be passed through a military sense of —— doctors and patience. the israeli are keen to show what they have found at the hospital and also to stress that this is the beginning of their search destination act. ——

their search destination act. —— their search destination act. —— their search there. we are inside the gaza strip with the israeli army. they are taking us to gaza city and the al—shifa hospital which, over the last few days of intense fighting, has emerged as the epicentre of this conflict. tonight they are offering as a first glimpse of what they found inside. israel's intense bombardment of gaza has meant growing pressure over the humanitarian cost of their military operation. we are driving into gaza city now and it is clear what it took to take control of this area. whole neighbourhoods have been completely shattered. there are columns of tanks moving through the streets here. the area around shifa is still very tense. we are taken into the hospital in darkness using a light sensitive camera to film. just clambering through a collapsed wall here in the perimeter of the hospital. we are told to keep all our lights off so it is quite hard to see. they have used armoured bulldozers to punch through here. we are still being told to keep our lights off. are we going this way?

inside the hospital we are shepherded straight to the mri department by israeli special forces. we are not allowed to talk to any doctors here. they have described the situation as catastrophic. now in control of the hospital, israel is under pressure to prove hamas is there. kalashnikov rifles, which is the standard issue that hamas uses, located here. we have been searching for underground infrastructure, tunnels etc. we have not found one yet here but we are searching the entire perimeter and the immediate surroundings. they have been looking for evidence of this being a hamas base, a place where hamas planned attacks. and they say that among the things they have uncovered are more than a dozen kalashnikovs, grenades, personal protective equipment, some of it with the hamas military brigade insignia on it. you can see some of them here, hidden under these bags of medical supplies.

the army also showed us laptops they said contained recent files on the hostages and evidence that hamas had been at the hospital within weeks or days. it seems as if, at this point, neither the hostages nor hamas are here in any number. we will continue. hamas aren't here because they understood and saw that we were coming and i think that, had we taken them completely by surprise, we would have seen mountains of evidence of hamas abuse of the hospital. tonight, a hamas leader in lebanon denied the weapons found in al—shifa along to the group. israel came to fight hamas in a place where civilians are fighting for their lives. the battle for shifa hospital is now the eye of israel's military offensive, and gaza's human crisis. lucy williamson, bbc news, gaza. there's much scruitiny of israel's

operation at al—shifa hospital. it's been met with claim and counterclaim. so what do we know for sure? here's our analysis editor ros atkins to explain. sophie, thank you. bbc verify has been examining the different sources of information we have on this. israel describes the al—shifa hospital as "the main headquarters for hamas' terrorist activity." this idf animation, posted in late october, claims to represent a hamas tunnel system underneath the hospital. but, having been inside al shifa since early wednesday, israel's yet to produce evidence of the tunnels. it has allowed the bbc and fox news to film at the hospital, though only locations of israel's choice. this is what they found. israel also released its own seven—minute video which bbc verify has analysed. a watch visible in that video suggests it was filmed a few hours before the bbc arrived. and this idf video was posted, then deleted,

and then reposted, this time without a section referring to an israeli soldier who'd been held hostage. i don't know when this was used, the last time. also in the video, we see a room with an mri machine. if we zoom in and get some light over here what you are able to see it military equipment... the bbc was shown the same room. and what we see in the two videos doesn't precisely match. for example, there's one gun in the idf video — two by the time of the bbc footage. israel has told bbc verify this is because more weapons and assets were discovered throughout the day. israel also says its video is a single shot, with no edits. but this appears to be an edit. we don't know the reasons for that edit nor how significant it is. the idf says the suggestions it is manipulating the media is incorrect.

the idf video also shows military equipment in other locations. though we can't verify how it came to be there. and what we see in this idf video doesn't equate to israel's description of al—shifa as "an operational command centre" for hamas. the us is using a different phrase, saying al—shifa was used as a "a command—and—control node". that implies a much smaller facility. and as israel makes the case for this operation, let's consider the geneva conventions, the foundations of the rules of war. "they state that hospitals can lose their protection if they" are used to commit... ..acts harmful to the enemy".

israel believes hamas has done this in al—shifa, and say that what's been discovered so far, is just the start. but for now, at least, it's either not found supporting evidence, or it's not sharing it. the new foreign secretary, david cameron, has held talks with ukraine's president zelensky in kyiv on his first official trip the new foreign secretary, david cameron, has held talks with ukraine's president zelensky in kyiv on his first official trip since rejoining the government. lord cameron, as he's now known, told mr zelensky that the uk will provide moral, diplomatic and military support to ukraine for "however long it takes". train drivers will stage a fresh round of strikes in december as part of their long running dispute over pay. the union aslef says there will be a rolling programme of strikes between the second and eighth december. 0ur transport correspondent katy austin is at london waterloo station, the uk's busiest station. are we looking at another run up to christmas with train strikes? well, it's looking like we might be, sophie, much to the dismay of many passengers and hospitality businesses of course, crucial time for them. there had been more optimistic news last week that workers in a different union, the rmt, are now voting on a potential

deal, but the dispute between aslef, the train drivers�* union, and more than a dozen train companies, you can see the list coming up now, continues, and a fresh wave of industrial action was announced today so those drivers will turn down over time for nine days beginning on the 1st of december and that will mean some disruption for some of the operators affected and also there will be rolling strikes from saturday the second until friday the 8th of december, none on the monday that week. but crucially drivers will be walking out of different train companies on different train companies on different days that week, so it will be a time to really check before you travel to see if your area is affected on any given day that week. it was back in april that aslef rejected the latest offer from the rail delivery group, which represents the train companies, which involved two successive virtz a 4% but continuing changes to working practice agreed. the rail delivery group and the government

said it would have seen train driver pay to an average that they continue to call for aslef to put to their members any vote.— to call for aslef to put to their members any vote. england�*s maternity units have the poorest safety ratings of any hospital service insepcted by the health regulator. nearly 70% of maternity units in england fell short of the safety standards expected, according to analysis by bbc verify. that�*s a big rise from a year ago when the figure was 55%. more than 15% of units are now classed as inadequate, meaning there�*s a high risk of avoidable harm to mother or baby in the unit. 0ur health correspondent catherine burns has been to a hospital that�*s trying to make giving birth safer. it�*s going to be any second now that a new life is going to come into the world in that room. we were filming on a corridor in the labour ward at northwick park hospital in north—west london when it became clear there was a serious problem. i think something is going wrong — that�*s why i�*m getting out. there is something wrong

with the baby, i think. a young woman was in the end stages of labour and they couldn�*t hear the baby�*s heartbeat properly. every member of staff had one focus — delivering the baby safely. it was incredibly tense, but then the sound everyone wanted to hear. baby cries absolutely beautiful. yeah, and she�*s come out in really good condition. it�*s a rare gift, seeing a new life less than ten minutes after coming into the world. seeing the joy as a family meets its youngest member. she�*s adorable! is this your first grandchild? and seeing the instant love as new father himanshu locks eyes with his daughter kiana for the very first time. awesome.

it took ten minutes to go from potential disaster to a healthy baby, but regulators are more worried about safety in maternity units than any other part of hospital care in england. donna 0ckenden is a senior midwife who has authored reviews into maternity safety scandals. i'm so disappointed to hear of this news today. but i'm not overly surprised. 18 months ago, we published a report setting out a blueprint for maternity services in terms of safe staffing, funding and workforce, and i would say we are less than half of the way there. and so i think government has got an awful lot more to do. my daughter's life was effectively ended before it got started. - rachel gave birth to her daughter eve in a different hospital. she was injured in a forceps delivery that went badly wrong. that force actually -

fractured part of her skull, which also severed an artery. eve lived with huge challenges until last year. she was just five. i think sometimes it just l catches you unexpectedly. the life she had was not the life she should have had, _ but also that it was cut short at the end _ ministers here at the department of health know, and they have known for some time, about problems with maternity safety. they also know they�*re not looking likely to meet targets to halve the numbers of mothers and babies dying by 2025. we wanted to speak to ministers here about all of this, and several times we asked for an interview. that request was eventually refused. instead, they gave us this statement. they said, "we are working incredibly hard to improve maternity services, "focusing on recruitment, training and the retention of midwives. "but we know there is more to do." back at home and smiling already, baby kiana and herfamily. despite all the drama, her mum kavisha says it was worth it.

after she is in my arms, it feels like a top of the world all the time! and it was the best experience. the hope is that every baby can have such a safe start. catherine burns, bbc news. five metropolitan police officers and three former officers are being investigated for gross misconduct over the handling of the investigation into the murders by the serial killer stephen port in east london. port is serving a whole life term for the murders of anthony walgate, gabriel kovari, daniel whitworth and jack taylor, who all died between 2014 and 2015. derbyshire police has admitted it failed a woman who was killed by a colleague, months after she reported him to the force for stalking. an inquest into the death of gracie spinks, who was 23, found she had been unlawfully killed by michael sellers in duckmanton in derbyshire injune 202i.

0ur midlands correspondent navteonhal reports. she was beautiful. always laughing, singing. dancing. doing, i don�*t know, always up to something. at the age ofjust 23, gracie spinks�*s life was cruelly cut short. she was killed by her colleague michael sellers. he had become obsessed with her and was later dismissed by their employer when she complained about his behaviour. the inquest into her death heard that he had previously harassed several other female colleagues. it's got worse and worse and i'm just worried that, you know, next time it happens to someone else, he might kidnap someone. after this 101 call from gracie, police spoke to sellers but took no further action. then, in may 2021, a bag containing weapons was founded here in derbyshire near where gracie kept her horse and was reported to the police. but they didn�*t investigate further. after gracie�*s death, it emerged it

belonged to michael sellers. six weeks later, sellers stabbed gracie to death. he is then thought to have killed himself. her parents believe the police�*s failings contributed to her death. derbyshire constabulary�*s handling of the case is disgraceful, to be honest. i�*m appalled, the amount of inactivity in investigating. the inquest found that gracie had been unlawfully killed. there were significant failures throughout both gracie's report of stalking and the way in which the findings of the bag were dealt with. but simply, as a force, we failed gracie and for that, i can only offer my own and the force's most sincere apologies. gracie�*s family are calling for changes in how police protect women and girls. despite today�*s conclusion, her death continues to haunt those who loved her. navtej johal,

bbc news, chesterfield. dealing with a shrinking workforce is the key economic challenge for the uk, said both main parties today. but they differed on their solution. the chancellor outlined plans that could see benefits cut from healthy non—workers and more support to get the sick back to work. the shadow chancellor, rachel reeves, meanwhile, told the bbc that the answer was more spending on the nhs to alleviate massive backlogs. here�*s our economics editor, faisal islam. ahead of a crucial autumn statement next week, there are a couple of economic facts the shadow chancellor and actual chancellor agree on. people in here will be admitted to hospital... the economy has a workforce problem related to health, and in turn, a growth problem. they disagree on the surgery required. we�*ve got to fix our nhs to get britain working again. so you see a link between the long waiting lists and the difficulty

to get people into jobs? absolutely, because for so many people, their life is put on hold whilst they are waiting for the operation or the scan or the appointment. if we can clear that backlog in the nhs, we can help start getting people back to work again. that is about fixing our nhs so we can fix our economy. a different approach at a london job centre from jeremy hunt... and is it mainly anxiety and depression? ..announcing a new policy, £500 million a year, on support for those sick and off work, including phone apps for mental health, but also slashing the benefits of some healthy non—workers. these policies are a combination of carrot_ these policies are a combination of carrot and — these policies are a combination of carrot and stick. we are spending £25— carrot and stick. we are spending {2.5 billion, for example, to help £2.5 billion, for example, to help over_ £2.5 billion, for example, to help over half— {2.5 billion, for example, to help over half a — {2.5 billion, for example, to help over half a million people with mental— over half a million people with mental health conditions get the treatment they need to make them able to— treatment they need to make them able to get back into the world of work_ able to get back into the world of work which of course is much better for their_ work which of course is much better for their mental health condition. but also — for their mental health condition. but also we are being very clear, people _ but also we are being very clear, people who do not have a health

condition. — people who do not have a health condition, if they do not engage with the — condition, if they do not engage with the system after six months, their— with the system after six months, their benefit will be stopped. tough medicine from _ their benefit will be stopped. tough medicine from the _ their benefit will be stopped. tough medicine from the chancel- their benefit will be stopped. tough medicine from the chancel on - medicine from the chancel on benefits but with an election likely within a year, labour under pressure to reveal more about its plans. if you become chancellor, are you going to follow conservative spending plans? i to follow conservative spending lans? , ., ., plans? i 'ust told you how we will raise £2 plans? i just told you how we will raise £2 billion _ plans? i just told you how we will raise £2 billion by _ plans? i just told you how we will raise £2 billion by getting - plans? i just told you how we will raise £2 billion by getting rid - plans? i just told you how we will raise £2 billion by getting rid of. raise £2 billion by getting rid of the non—dom tax status to invest in our nhs and into breakfast clubs at primary schools so we are not signing up to the tories spending plans. we have announced some targeted closing of tax loopholes on non—doms, privates gould not paying the 80 or business rates. this non-doms, privates gould not paying the 80 or business rates.— the 80 or business rates. as the election battle _ the 80 or business rates. as the election battle of— the 80 or business rates. as the election battle of a _ the 80 or business rates. as the election battle of a shrunken - election battle of a shrunken workforce and sluggish economy hots up, some clear blue water emerging. faisal islam, bbc news. our top story this evening: we go inside gaza city, inside the hospital where israel claims hamas is hiding its command centre. and

its command centre. coming up, how hollywood at tom and coming up, how hollywood actor tom hanks is helping to bring space closer to earth with an immersive show in london. and on bbc london: making viral videos for a living. the school drop—out from north london who became a social media entrepreneur. and theatre for all, funded by children in need, where everyone can have their moment in the spotlight. in a world first, a new gene editing treatment has been approved in the uk for two inherited blood disorders. sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia affect thousands of people in the uk causing severe pain or requiring regular blood transfusions. doctors say it may sound like the stuff of science fiction but the new treatment will be revolutionary for some patients. 0ur medical editor fergus walsh is here to explain. this is truly a breakthrough in the treatment of these debilitating, serious blood disorders.

patients with sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia have misshapen and malfunctioning blood cells. over 16,000 people in the uk are affected, whose family origins are from these diverse regions. teeno, who�*s 60, has sickle cell and has endured regular painful attacks all her life. when i am bad, when i'm in crisis, i really genuinely cannot do anything. this is not even being in the hospital, this is actually even still being at home. i can't even get into the taxi to get into the ambulance. i can't walk any more. i'm debilitated, really poorly, struggling to breathe. both conditions are caused by an inherited faulty gene for haemoglobin. the treatment to correct it is extraordinary. in the lab the patient�*s own bone marrow stem cells are edited using a technique called crispr, it�*s like a pair of molecular

scissors which precisely cuts the faulty dna. as a result, patients produce healthy blood cells, their disease is stopped. this is the apheresis machine we use ito collect the patient's stem cells. i imperial college healthcare in london is leading clinical trials of the new treatment here. they are thrilled it has been licensed. this is the kind of technology that you read in science fiction books and that you never thought it would be reality and here we are, within my professional life, being able to be part of the story and now to be able to deliver it to patients. in trials, 28 out of 29 sickle cells patients were free of severe pain crises. and 39 out of 42 beta thalassemia patients no longer needed blood transfusions. the evidence is only for one year but it�*s hoped it could be a permanent fix, a cure.

the drug will only be used by the nhs if it is considered cost effective and that may be a major issue. no price has been set but it issue. no price has been set but it is likely to be over £1 million a patient. a court in russia has sentenced an artist to seven years in prison for an anti—war protest which involved swapping supermarket price tags for statements about casualties in ukraine. sasha skochilenko was arrested in st petersburg in april last year. today her supporters could be heard chanting "freedom" in protest against her sentencing. the contraceptive pill will be available to women at pharmacies in england from next month, without the need for a gp appointment. the move is part of a new scheme which will also see treatments supplied at high street chemists for many common conditions. similar services are already available in scotland, wales, and northern ireland. scotland�*s health secretary has

apologised after revealing that his sons had used his government ipad on holiday in morocco and run up a bill of almost £11,000 in roaming charges. he had initially claimed that he had been using the ipad for parliamentary work. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon is in edinburgh. parliamentary business can often be quite dry and predictable but not today and all because of this whopping bill run up by michael matheson when he was abroad with his family on holiday almost a year ago. but the details of which only emerged publicly last week. 0pposition parties here have been frankly incredulous of his explanation, that this huge data roaming bill was all because he was doing parliamentary and constituency business on his ipad, pointing out he would have had to send about 8000 work e—mails over 2a hours. well, in a very emotional statement today here at parliament, michael matheson

changed his story and he said that he only became aware that other family members had been using his device after public details and this media scrutiny of the roaming charges emerged. as a parent, i wanted to protect my family from being part... from being part of the political and media scrutiny associated with this, something i believe any parent would want to do. i am a father first and foremost. the simple truth is, they were watching — the simple truth is, they were watching football matches. the scottish health _ watching football matches. tie: scottish health secretary has coughed up the cash, paid back the money and apologised, referred himself to be parliamentary authorities are here for investigation. but opposition parties, while sympathetic to his personal circumstances, what his teenage son got up to, say he has

misled parliament and this is a big distraction from his big job, heading up the health service here in scotland. and i�*m not sure there scrutiny is going to stop anytime. thank you. the hollywood actor tom hanks has been fascinated with space since childhood. and now he is part of a project to help people get a sense of what is like to journey to the moon. it�*s called the moonwalkers and it�*s about to open in london. he gave our arts correspondent david sillito a sneak preview. hey, tom! david, what a pleasure, nice to see you. this is amazing, this is amazing. you�*re taking me somewhere? yes, yes. it�*s only, it�*s only a small step, but it�*s also a giant leap at the same time. lead me, lead me. a spirit of adventure about you now. you know when someone asks if you fancy going on a journey to the moon with tom hanks? you say, "yes". that�*s quite... rocket motors. ..an experience. you would think that that thing would shoot up. we shouldn�*t be standing here, should we? no, we should not. it�*s going to get a little hot.

tom, as you can probably tell, really knows his space. it�*s been a passion from childhood and this is his show, an astronaut�*s eye—view of what it was like to be on an apollo mission. and it all began when tom first saw this space being used for a david hockney show, and he had an idea. so that�*s when you had the idea, you walked in and you thought, "this could be the moon." you could put people on the moon in a way that has never, ever, ever, ever been done. but this isn�*tjust history. it�*s also a fanfare for what�*s about to happen. good morning. good afternoon. what is it exactly up there now? tom has been working with nasa, meeting the astronauts for the next moon mission, which is due to take off next year. but there is a question. this, going into space, it�*s an indulgence. is it still important? what does it do for an individual? you could argue that maybe not much. but what does it do for the cause of humanity? something magnificent. it takes us to this next place.

there�*s going to come a time when someone is going to live permanently on places like the moon or in space. and we will become interplanetary beings. and isn�*t that what we�*re supposed to do as human beings? we�*re always supposed to... is it? we�*re always supposed to get out of the cave to see what is there. and we have never not found something magnificent as well as a magnification of ourselves. what do you want people to take away from this? awe. wonder. that�*s it. and at the end, a chance to really look at the main attraction, wouldn�*t you like to take a cruise in the sea of crises, wouldn�*t you like to go visit the ocean? i have... i have sailed the sea of crises many times. we all have. we all have, haven�*t we? yeah. when you get up just a little bit closer, it�*s quite stunning, that magnificent desolation. and that�*s what it is. david sillito, bbc news.

it�*s thursday, it�*s question time, here�*s fiona. what a week it�*s been. braverman out — cameron in. and now the government�*s rwanda policy — is it finished for good? we�*re in somerset on iplayer at 8, or bbc one after the ten o�*clock news. time for a look at the weather. here�*s elizabeth rizzini. hello, thank you. isn�*t this glorious, if only we could all have beenin glorious, if only we could all have been in the highlands earlier. the best of the sunshine today was certainly across northern scotland and by contrast, really very miserable across southern england and wales. this is storm frederico, named by the french level is dealt —— weather service, clearing up and another that we confront gradually pushing across northern ireland and into western scotland as we head through the rest of the evening. more showers following behind but also clearing skies and foremost not quite as chilly tonight as it was last night but still possibly a touch of frost across the midlands, welsh marches, and a sharp frost

developing again under clear